Counting device.



H. F. MYERS.

COUNTING DEVICE.

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COUNTING DEVICE.

' APPLICATION FILED IAN. 17, 1916. 1,227,485. Patented May 22, 1917.

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HENRY F. -MYERS, OF LAKE LINDEN, MICHIGAN.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 191 '7.

Appucatien led January 17, 1916. Serial No. 72,525.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. MYERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lake Linden, in the county of Houghton and State ofMichigan, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Counting Devices,of which'the following is a specification.

This invention relates to counting or tallying devices, and it hasparticular reference to a tallying device adaptedA to be mounted on andused in connection with a box conveyer for the purpose of counting orkeeping tally of the boxes passing over such conveyer.

The invention has for its object to produce a simple and improvedtallying device which may be conveniently mounted for operation -on abox conveyer of the gravity type, such conveyer being provided with ballbearing rollers.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and improvedtallying device comprising a frame equipped with 'a plurality ofrollers, said frame being mounted detachably on the frame of a conveyer,the rollers of the tallying device being disposed in a plane at asufficient angle to the plane in which the rollers of the conveyer aremounted to produce a drop at one end of the tallying device, the latterbeing provided with arms supporting a cross bar that lies in the path ofboxes passing over the conveyer and the tallying device, said armsserving to actuate the tallying mechanism.

A further object of the inventi-on is to produce a tallying device ofthe class described which will be simple in construction consisting ofvery few parts and which will not be too heavy to be readily transferredto any desired place on the conveyer.

A further object of the invention is'to produce a tallying device of thecharacter described which will be so constructed that a box passingthereover will by no chance be registered more than once and by which onthe other hand each box will be registered no matter how closelytogether the boxes may be passing over the conveyer and the tallyingdevice.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as' the.nature vof the inv ention is better understood, the same conslsts 1n theimproved construction and novel arrangement and combination of partswhich will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed outin the claim.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and'preferredform of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation'is necessarily made to the precise structural details'therein exhibited,but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of theclaim may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a portion of a gravity rollerconveyer to which the improved tallying device has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken through the conveyer on the line8--3 inFig. l, and showing the tallying device in end elevation.

Fig. A is a side elevation on a larger scale showing the casingcontaining the actuating means for the tallying device and relatedparts, the face plate of the casing having been removed.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by likecharacters of reference.

In the drawing there has been shown a portion of a roller conveyer ofwell known construction, the samey including side bars or frame bars l5which are properly connected together and spaced apart and which areprovided with bearings for rollers 16 which are suitably proportioned soas to project above the top edges of the frame bars 15, and said rollersbeing arranged in an inclined plane so that an object such as a boxplaced thereon will gravitate in the direction of the low end of theconveyer. The rollers are preferably equipped with ball bearings, asindicated at 17.l v

The improved tallying device includes in its construction a framecomprising side members 18 made of angle iron, said side members or sidebars being provided with downwardly extending lugs 19 for the receptionof spacing bars 20 which constitute the end bars of the frame. The sidebars 18 aord bearings for a plurality of rollers 21 which are alsopreferably of the ball bearing type, as indicated at 22, said rollersbeing so arranged as to project slightly above the top faces of theangle bars 18. r1`hc rollers 21l are of smaller diameter than therollers 16 of the conveyer, but the rollers 21 are spaced apart equallyas the rollers 16, so that when the parts are assembled for operationthe rollers 21 will partly fill the interspaces` between the rollers 16.The side members 18 of the tallying device are so spaced and arrangedthat they may be supported at the receiving end directly on theside'bars 15 of the conveyer frame. At the discharge end of thetallj-Jing device the frame members 18 are provided with lifts 23whereby they are raised above the level of the top edges of the sidebars of the conveyer frame. The roller 21 at the discharge end of thetallying device will thus be supported at an elevation above theproximatev rollers of the conveyer suiiicient t-o insure a proper dropof the object which is to be counted.

The side bars 18 are provided at the discharge end of the tallyingdevice with bearings for a rock shaft 24 having rearwardly extendingarms 25 that are connected together by a cross bar 26 lying in the pathof objects discharged over the tallying frame. One end of the rock shaft2l also has a forwardly extending arm 27 which projects within a casing28, said arm 27 being` provided at the end thereof with a notch 25. Alever 26 is provided with an approximately circular head 27 which ispivoted at 28 on a side wall of the casing 28, said lever having alaterally extending pin or stud 29 engaging the notch 25. The lever 26has at its free end a pivoted shoe 29, the rocking movement of which islimited by stop members 30. A retracting spring 81 connects the head ofthe lever 26 with an end wall of the casing 28, thereby maintaining thearms 25 of the rock shaft 211 normally in an elevated position, theparts being, however, so proportioned and arranged that the cross bar 26will normally lie in a plane slightly below that of the rearmost roller21 of the tallying device. The tallier, which may be of any well knownconstruction, and vwhich is conventionally indicated by T, is mountedexteriorly of the casing 28, said tallier being provided with anoperating shaft 32 that extends within the casing. rllhe shaft 32carries a star wheel 38 and a spur Vwheel 34, the number of teeth ofwhich is a multiple of the number of points of the star wheel, said spurwheel being engaged by a dog which is actuated by a spring 36. rEhe dog35 not only prevents retrograde movement of the shaft 32, but it alsoacts as a drag to prevent the shaft from being rotated beyond the properlimit when the star wheel is engaged by the shoe 29 of the lever 26. The

tallier is obviously to be so constructed that it will be advanced oneunit by each actuation of the star wheel 33 which may be regarded asforming a part thereof.

In the operation of this invention, the tallying device may be mountedor supported at any convenient place on the conveyer. When objects, suchas boxes, are passed over the conveyer, each object in turn will passover the rollers of the tallying device and will drop on the cross bar26 carried by the arms 25, thereby rocking the shaft 211 and actuatingthe arm 27, whereby the pivotally supported lever 26 is moved againstthe tension of the spring 3l, causing the shoe 29 to strike the face ofone of the points of the star wheel which will thereby be rotated aproper distance to cause the tallier to be advanced one unit. It will beseen that the downward movement of the cross bar 26 is limited by theframe members 15 ofthe conveyer which lie in the path thereof, saiddownward movement as well as the movement of the arm 27 within thecasing'28 being of small extent. This necessitates the employment of thelever 26 which, when actuated, multiplies the movement of the arm 27,thus giving ample scope of movement to the pivotcd shoe 29 whereby thestar wheel 38 is actuated. As soon as the object passes out ofengagement with the cross bar 26, the parts will be restored by theretracting spring 31 to their initial position. The tallying device maybe made of a length slightly exceeding the length of the boxes orobjects that are to be counted, and the parts will be so proportionedthat the forward part of the object will be tilted on to the rollers ofthe conveyer before the rrearward part of said object drops from therearmost roller of the tallying device on to the cross bar 26. lt willthus be impossible for any one object to register more than once, and itwill likewise be impossible for any object to pass over `the tallyingdevice without being properly counted and registered.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed as new, is:-

The combination with a gravity conveyer, of a tallying device adapted tobe detachably mounted on the frame of such conveyer, said tallyingdevice comprising a frame adapted to be supported on the conveyer frame,means whereby the tallier frame will be raised with respect to theconveyer frame at the discharge end thereof, rollers mounted in thetallier frame and adapted to receive an object from the conveyer and tocarry such object over a portion of the conveyer and in an upwarddirection with respect thereto, such object Iii: A

being free to drop over the raised end of In testimony whereof afix `mysignature in presence of two wltnesses.

HENRY F. MYERS.

the tallier frame, a mechanical counting device carried bv the taliierfianie` and means for actuating said counting device including a memberextendino; in the path of an object dropping from the raised end of thetallier frame to receive the impact thereof.

Witnesses:

J. A. MACKINSEL, JOSEPH H. WERNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing'the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

